"Great was the darkness of that night and its horror, and demons would appear on that night always."

Oíche shamhna shona daoibh go léir! Happy Hallowe'en! To accompany you on any trick or treating or early morning/late night wakenings this weekend we bring you our spooky Samhain special! Dr Hannah Mac Auliffe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Maynooth University, explains how the festival of Samhain appears in medieval Irish literature as a time for feasting and merriment, with the High King’s Feast of Tara taking place on Halloween in several medieval stories. And just as we gather together and tell stories of demons and ghouls each October 31st, so too did the people of medieval Ireland. We hear of everything from zombies, threefold deaths and beheadings to werewolves, witches and kidnappings by the fairy armies of the sídhe. Be careful out there!

Recommended reading:

Hannah Mac Auliffe, 'Great was the darkness': Spooky stories from medieval Ireland, RTÉ Brainstorm: https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2023/1023/1412430-ghost-stories-medieval-ireland-folklore-halloween-samhain/

Lára Ní Mhaoláin, 'Preserving Samhain - Halloween in the Schools’ Collection of Irish folklore': https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spotlight-research/preserving-samhain-halloween-schools-collection-irish-folklore

Elizabeth Boyle, 'How authors in medieval Ireland made Samhain a good read': https://blogafragments.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/how-authors-in-medieval-ireland-made-samhain-a-good-read/

Primary sources mentioned (thanks Hannah for the references!):

ECHTRA CORMAIC: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T302000.html

Stokes, Whitley (ed. and tr.), ‘The Irish ordeals, Cormac's adventure in the Land of Promise, and the decision as to Cormac's sword’ in Windisch, Ernst, and Whitley Stokes (eds), Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch, vol. 3:1 (1891) pp 183-221.

TOCHMARC EMIRE: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301021.html

Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.), ‘The Wooing of Emer’, Archaeological Review 1 (1888), pp 68-75; 150-155; 231-235; 298-07.

ECHTRA NERAI: https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/academic/seanmeanghaeilge/cdi/texts/Meyer-Echtra-Nerai.pdf

Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.), 'Echtra Nerai (The Adventures of Nera)', Revue Celtique 10 (1889), pp 212-228.

MACGNÍMARTHA FIND: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T303023/index.html

Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.), ‘Macgnimartha Find’, Ériu 1 (1901), pp 180-190.

TOGAIL BRUIDNE DÁ DERGA: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301017A/

Stokes, Whitley (ed. and tr.), ‘The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel’, Revue Celtique 22 (1901), pp 9-61, 165-215, 282-329, 390-437.

METRICAL DINDSHENCHAS: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T106500D/

Gwynn, Edward (ed. and tr.), The Metrical Dindshenchas, Volume 4; Second reprint (Dublin, 1991) (first published 1906) (reprinted 1941).

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by Maynooth University, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music by: Sascha Ende